College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 (NCAA). Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III.

There are 342 schools in 32 Division I basketball conferences. Each conference, except for the newly formed Great West Conference, receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

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